# GH&Co. Scotch Flake Aromatic



## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

By an odd coincidence, I have come by a hefty brick of Scotch Flake Aromatic. Having ordered a pound of Scotch Flake, I was surprised by the powerful smell of chocolate I found on opening the box. I immediately shot off a panicky email to smokingpipes, getting back the puzzling response that they don't carry it. (I do so hate to return things. Such a hassle!) I turned forthwith to tobaccoreviews to find out what I had, only to find no reviews! A GH&Co. tobacco without a single, solitary review!? :shock: 

With the permission of smokingpipes, I decided to give it go, which leads me here, scooping tobaccoreviews.

I have pulled the capable Sasieni Canadian out of the rack and loaded it with a sturdy musketball of a tobacco that smells powerfully of chocolate, more so than Bob's Chocolate, my only previous encounter with chocolate flavored tobaccos. Typically thick strands comprise the dark six by one and quarter inch flakes, not too wet, yet moist enough to easily attain a cohesive bundle that fits snugly in the pipe and create an air pocket above the draught hole. The charring light went well: three lights with kitchen matches, interspersed with a few twists of the wooden tamper to crumble the surface and I was off and puffing, arriving quickly in the Lakeland district.

The taste of chocolate still fully presents itself 25 minutes into the bowl, the smooth almost creamy smooth. A remarkable absence of any harshness whatsoever promises a smoke with absolutely zero tongue bite. At first, I felt a nagging concern that it would not have enough nicotine; as I enter the full force at middle bowl, that fear has melted away. I will now take a break to enjoy the heart of the smoke.

Tick tock tick tock...

Now 9:15, 45 minutes into my adventure, the smoke volume has steadily increased in classic GH&Co. fashion, filling my mouth with the texture of the finest tobaccos one could hope for. The Virginia sweetness has arrived! Taking the utmost care with the tamper, I have chased the sidewalls of the musketball down the bowl, twisting them onto the burn pile as the ember descends, damping more frequently as time elapses to keep the furnace cool. 

Tick tock...

An hour in and no relights yet necessary and none expected -- one expects no less from GH&Co.! And still the taste of chocolate, although the Lakeland has receded completely now. For some reason, I never caught the taste of vanilla, but that's probably because chocolate usually has a vanilla flavoring incorporated already, which I simply interpret as straight chocolate.

Tick tock...

There. Done. An hour and 7 minutes and it's out. Nothing but the signature fine white ash of top shelf Virginia falls into the ashtray. Magnificent. Cool, dry, sweet, delicious. It will remain in my cellar. No extra trip to the post office today! :tu


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## quo155 (Aug 10, 2010)

Great review Jim..._thank you brother!_

And, I immensely enjoyed reading your dialog as you reviewed this blend...


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## Stonedog (Mar 9, 2011)

Was there any hint of Lakeland soap/perfume?

EDIT: Disregard, I missed this: "...arriving quickly in the Lakeland district."


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

Stonedog said:


> Was there any hint of Lakeland soap/perfume?
> 
> EDIT: Disregard, I missed this: "...arriving quickly in the Lakeland district."


Definitely there, but not heavy. Some are more sensitive than others, but I have quite a few to compare against, Ennerdale, Scented Brown, Kendal's, Glengarry, Bob's Chocolate. On the quieter side of the lake, for sure. More the soap district than the perfume district. :lol:


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## jtree26 (Aug 20, 2008)

Thanks for the review. This is one of the Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. blends I haven't tried, I'll need to add it too my "to buy" list.


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

jtree26 said:


> Thanks for the review. This is one of the Gawith, Hoggarth & Co. blends I haven't tried, I'll need to add it too my "to buy" list.


The more I think about this, the weirder it gets. I see it for sale in the UK, but nowhere here in the US. Mars has "Scotch Flake Scented", which does not match the writing on the box, "Scotch Flake Arom" or the entry at tobaccoreviews, but it could be the same thing. Smokingpipes denies that they have any. I may have the only Scotch Flake Aromatic on the N. American continent! :shock: By accident.


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## MarkC (Jul 4, 2009)

That was a rough review; you had me ready to order and then you tell me no one carries it!


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## VinCigars (Apr 15, 2010)

Just smoked a bowl (Thanks to Freestoke Great blend!!


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

VinCigars said:


> Just smoked a bowl (Thanks to Freestoke Great blend!!


Nice stuff, huh? :tu Glad you liked it, Vin! I'm having some of that RR965 right now. :beerchug:


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## User Name (Feb 11, 2011)

Last week and received a sample of this fine tobacco from Jim. When to tobacco came in the mail, I knew right away because my whole mailbox smelled like chocolate and feet. The tobacco had some moisture, so I loaded it up into a pipe and set it on my dresser, there it would sit for 24 hours.

It was Friday night, and I was heading off to my girlfriend's house. She lives about an hour and a half away, so I decided that I should take a pipe with me. I grabbed my pre-loaded bowl and hit the road. 

This tobacco was fantastic. It had an amazing aroma (while smoking) that I can only describe as breyers ice cream. I don't particularly like this brand of ice cream, because it has a powdery texture, but my mom buys it because it's "natural". The ice cream flavor that comes to mind when smoking this tobacco is in a checkered format, chocolate and vanilla squares....yeah, real natural.... 

Anyway, this tobacco smells how this ice cream tastes (which is pretty good, flavor-wise). Creamy smoke with hints of chocolate AND vanilla (and some chemically taste). It's fantastic.

And not only is the smell great, but the flavor was quite interesting and flavorful. It tasted like chocolate malt-o-meal. Yes, the way that the Lakeland and the chocolate mix, it tastes like chocolate malt-o-meal, which I loved as a kid. The warm smoke just reinforces the flavor.

After about 30 minutes, it went out on me. I wasn't tamping as often as I should have, since I was distracted with not dying on the freeway. I didn't re-light it either, that's a little difficult at 80 mph. Towards the end of my smoke, however, the flavor was dying down, but I never got a chance to see the VAs shine through it all. I'm going to have another bowl tonight, which will be smoked to completion. Again, thanks Jim for showing me this tobacco.

And just a note for all you listening, I recently got 4 oz of Scotch flake from smokingpipes.com, about 2 days before Jim sent me his samples. I haven't smoked it yet. I don't really recall the smell of regular scotch flake, since the last and only time I had it was during the blind taste testing. Anyway, I opened my 4 oz jar of my recently purchased "normal" flake....It smelled like the AROMATIC version Jim sent me. Funky chocolate!!!!!


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## freestoke (Feb 13, 2011)

User Name said:


> And just a note for all you listening, I recently got 4 oz of Scotch flake from smokingpipes.com, about 2 days before Jim sent me his samples. I haven't smoked it yet. I don't really recall the smell of regular scotch flake, since the last and only time I had it was during the blind taste testing. Anyway, I opened my 4 oz jar of my recently purchased "normal" flake....It smelled like the AROMATIC version Jim sent me. Funky chocolate!!!!!


I guess I have mixed feelings about issuing a warning about buying SF from smokingpipes! :lol: On the one hand, the tobacco would be really good. On the other, it won't actually be Scotch Flake! Looks like they got more than one pound and broke some of it up for ounce sales. :dunno:

Just checking the tobakrevs -- nobody even mentions the smell of chocolate in straight SF, so I'm pretty sure you have SF Aromatic. If you can't smell chocolate in this stuff, your nose is shot.


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